''Ctenosciaena'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Order (biology), order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family co ...

, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Western Atlantic and southeastern Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Ctenosciaena'' was first proposed as a monospecific subgenus of ''

Sciaena ''Sciaena'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. These fishes are found in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. Taxonomy ''Sciaena'' was first proposed as a gen ...

'' in 1923 by the American

ichthyologists Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Henry Weed Fowler Henry Weed Fowler (March 23, 1878 – June 21, 1965) was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Philadelphia, Holmesburg, Pennsylvania. He studied at Stanford University under David Starr Jordan. He joined the Academy of Natural Sciences in Ph ...

and

Barton Appler Bean Barton Appler Bean (May 21, 1860, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania – June 16, 1947, in Chemung, New York) was an American ichthyologist. He was the brother of the ichthyologist Tarleton Hoffman Bean (1846–1916). He obtained a job at the Nati ...

when they described ''Sciaena (Ctenosciaena) dubia''. This taxon was later found to be a junior synonym of ''Umbrina gracilicirrhus'' which had been described by the Dutch ichthyologist Jan Marie Metzelaar from the coast of Venezuela. This genus has been placed in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Sciaeninae by some workers, but the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' does not recognise subfamilies within the Sciaenidae which it places in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Acanthuriformes Acanthuriformes is a large, diverse order of mostly marine ray-finned fishes, part of the Percomorpha clade. In the past, members of this clade were placed in the suborders Acanthuroidea and Percoidea of the order Perciformes, but this treatment ...

Etymology

''Ctenosciaena'' is a combination of ''cteno'', from

ctenoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...

and ''Sciaena'' as ''Sciaena dubia'' seemed to have

ctenoid scale A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...

s, most of which had fallen off the type specimen, ''

Sciaena umbra The brown meagre or corb (''Sciaena umbra'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. This species found in, the eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea occurri ...

'' has

cycloid scale A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scale (zoology), scales, which can also provide effective Underwater camouflage, camouflage through the us ...

Species

''Ctenosciaena'' has the following two species classified within it: * '' Ctenosciaena gracilicirrhus'' ( Metzelaar, 1919) (Barbel drum) * '' Ctenosciaena peruviana'' Chirichigno F., 1969 (Peruvian barbel drum)

Characteristics

''Ctenosciaena'' barbel drums have an oblong, compressed body with a large head which has a large eye and a moderately large mouth, opening just underneath the snout. There is a small, slender, central barbel on the chin which has no pores and has two pairs of pores beside it. The

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

may be smooth or have slight serrations. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

has a high spiny part and is deeply incised, the incision separating the spiny and soft-rayed parts. The

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has a pair of weak spines. The

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

ends in a blunt, angular point. The scales are large ctenoid on the bodyand cycloid on the head. The scales of the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

reach to the center of the end of the caudal fin. Both species in the genus have maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

s of .

Distribution and habitat

''Ctenosciaena'' has a Pacific species, ''C. peruviana'', which is found off western South America along the coast of Ecuador and Peru, with records from southern Colombia. It occurs over muddy and rocky bottoms at depths between , while ''C. gracilicirrhus'' is found the Caribbean and Western Atlantic from Nicaragua south to southern Brazil at depths between over sandy or muddy bottoms in coastal waters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2439800 Sciaenidae Taxa named by Henry Weed Fowler Taxa named by Barton Appler Bean